


Harley and Peter One-shots

by Itbelikethatsometimes



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Harley Keener & Peter Parker Friendship, Harley Keener is a Good Bro, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Poor Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:47:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23926378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Itbelikethatsometimes/pseuds/Itbelikethatsometimes
Summary: A collection of one-shots revolving around Harley and Peter's friendship. I love reading fics like these so I had to make one!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I really love the dynamic between Harley and Peter so these will be somewhat connected. I hope you enjoy!

Peter was 100% fine with Harley being in town. He was Mr. Stark’s friend. Apparently they had this whole thing together right after New York. They seemed to have this old bond. It didn’t make Peter jealous per se. He just felt a little left out after his first week of lab time with Tony and Harley. Harley was fine though. He was crazy smart and kinda cool. But, there was just one tiny little thing that made Peter upset.

“He’s a huge dick!” He exclaimed to Ned. “He’s always bragging about his car and his potato guns.”

Ned couldn’t help but laugh. “Dude you’re an Avenger. Why are you getting so hung up on this guy?”

“I don’t know… He’s just such an asshole. He’s this country kid and he’s charming and charismatic and…” 

“What?”

“Nothing,” Peter replied plopping onto his bed and staring up at the bunk above.

“Finish the sentence,” Ned insisted.

“Just forget it, man.” 

They sat in slightly awkward silence. The only sound was Ned digging through a small pile of LEGOS.

Peter sighed. He was going to have to see the guy every other weekend at the tower. 

‘Great!’ He thought. ‘This summer’s going to be awesome’. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Kid,” Tony said as Peter walked into the lab. Peter looked around cautiously before entering. He plopped his bag down and was about to pull out his suit when-

“Parker!” Peter rolled his eyes. He was hoping to get a bit of time fixing up the suit. But, with Harley there, he wouldn’t be able to. “What’re you working on today?” 

“Uhh, I don’t know,” Peter replied. It was a dumb answer, sure. But he couldn’t just pull out the suit. 

“Oh I’m gonna have him work on some stuff for Spider-Man,” Tony said saving the day. 

“Oh, that’s pretty cool,” Harley said. For a second Peter felt a bit honoured. Only a second though. “Do you know how to make his webs?”

“Uh no, I think he makes those himself,” Peter said A bit on edge.

Harley nodded and returned to his workbench. He seemed a bit too quiet. Peter didn’t really mind it, however. 

At the end of the night, Peter packed up his stuff and said goodbye to Mr. Stark…. And Harley. After a bit of convincing, Peter finally got Mr. Stark to let him walk home. 

“I could get Happy to drive you. It’s no problem,” He said for the hundredth time.

“Mr. Stark, It’s like five blocks. And the street is packed. I’ll be fine,” He replied. 

“You should leave the suit here. I can fix it up tonight and come get it tomorrow,” He said. Peter agreed and handed the crumpled up suit to Mr. Stark. 

As he made his way down to the lobby, he felt a little itch on the back of his neck. He looked around. But, saw no immediate danger. He walked out of the lobby and into the dark street. He still had a small sense that he was in danger. A few blocks down, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped his body around to see who it was.

“Harley?” He asked pretending he wasn’t about to go into defence mode. 

“Hey uhhh. I know this is kinda weird but… Do you think I could stay with you tonight?” He seemed a bit shaken. 

“What about the tower?” Peter asked. 

“Tony and I got into this fight…” 

“Oh… Uh, I can ask my aunt if she’s ok-” Something changed in Harley’s face.

“You know what… Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure? I have a-” 

“Parker! It’s fine…” 

“Dude,” Peter said. “What’s this about?”

“Oh, so NOW you want to talk to me about my life,” He replied with a laugh. But, there was no humour in it.

“What-”

“Now that I’m the sob story you want to talk to me about feelings.”

Peter had no words for this sudden outburst. It was all so unexpected.

“I’m sorry that you feel like I’m intruding in your life. But, as you can see you’re not the only person on this planet!”

“Harley-”

“You wanna know why I’m really here for the summer?” He raised his voice. “Well-”

Peter raised a hand to silence him. His spider-sense was going insane. 

“What are you-”

“We have to go,” Peter said grabbing Harley’s arm and half walking half running back to the tower. The street was way too quiet for Queens Boulevard. It was always bustling with people no matter the time of day.

Harley freed his arm from Peter’s grip. “What the hell is going on?”

Peter whipped his head around just in time to see a bullet fly past him and shatter the bank window behind him. It was only inches from his shoulder. Glass flew everywhere. Peter Put his hands over his head. He felt the glass cut into his hands. When he looked up, a U Haul truck sped towards them. A man got out and helped the one with the gun haul, Harley, into the back of the truck. 

Peter couldn’t risk going into Spider-Man mode. He was too exposed. With all the cameras from the bank, he didn't want to risk it. So, he ran up to the truck and slammed his whole body into one of the men. He lost balance for only a second before standing tall once again. Peter swung a punch. It was a bit weaker than his usual. Again, he couldn’t risk it. The man caught his fist in mid-air. 

“Oh, shi-” Peter whispered before receiving a punch ten times harder than his own. He didn’t get knocked out, but it didn’t tickle either.

“Get out of here!” He yelled at Harley.

He shut his eyes tight and tried to shake the dizziness off. In doing so, letting his guard down. The second man came up behind him, grabbed Peter by the hair, and slammed Peter’s head into the side of the truck. Peter was out instantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shit shit shit shit shit. They were both fucked and they were both gonna die. They tossed Peter’s unconscious (hopefully not dead) body into the truck after him. One of the men climbed in afterward. They slammed the door shut and took off. Harley’s heart was beating so fast. Sure, the Mandarin stuff was scary. But at least Tony had protected him. He and Peter were defenceless. 

He tried to ignore the trail of blood from the top of Peter’s forehead. 

The man in the back with them rummaged around in an old duffle bag. Harley didn’t want to know what he kept in there. Luckily, he found out. The man pulled out a roll of duct tape and approached Harley. 

“If you fucking touch me-” He was cut off. The man grabbed Harley by the collar and yanked him to his feet. Harley knew immediately how out of his league he was. The man slammed Harley’s face against the wall of the truck and taped his arms behind his back. “I’m gonna kick your ass when I get outta here.”

The man snorted. “Yea ok.”

Harley struggled under the man’s grip. That earned him another whack against the wall. That one made Harley dizzy. The man let go and He stumbled to the ground. It took him a moment to regain his bearings. When he finally had a grip on things, He saw the man taping Peter.

“Leave him alone,” He said. It sounded less of a threat and more of a plead. He hated it. “Hey! Leave him alone!”

The man didn’t reply. He just took a piece of tape and smacked it on Harley’s mouth. White-hot rage filled in his gut. ‘When I get out of here you’re going to wish none of this ever happened’ He thought.

The truck came to an abrupt stop. The door rolled up and the driver entered. The two men grabbed either of Harley’s arms and yanked him out of the truck. They were in some industrial parking garage. He looked back at Peter. He was still knocked out.

Harley fought against the men. He needed to check on Peter.

They dragged him into a disgusting room with a few chairs. The carpet looked like an old church carpet. It was green and had some suspicious stains. He didn't want to know what they were. They shoved him into the chair and restrained him to it. They ripped the tape off his mouth. Harley could’ve sworn it took off his four mustache hairs. A few moments later, they returned with Peter. He was stirring. They restrained him too and moved for the door.

“Assholes!” Harley yelled as the door slammed shut behind them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God his head hurt. It felt like all the times he smacked into a building as Spider-Man put together. 

“-rker! Are you awake man?” a voice whispered.

Peter shook his head. He wanted the pain to leave. 

“Dude! Say something.”

“Ow...” was all Peter could muster. There was a relieved laugh. 

“Holy shit I thought you were dead!” 

“Not helping,” Peter said opening his eyes.

“Shit sorry!” Harley said. Peter felt what was around his hands. Duct tape. They obviously didn’t know he was Spider-Man. He could break free in a second.

Harley was rambling about what had happened. Peter didn't really want to know.

“Shut up,” Peter said. Harley looked a bit offended. “They’re coming back.”

The two men clobbered into the room once again. But, there was a third man. He strutted into the room like he owned the place. He was wearing a white suit and glasses. He looked like a normal rich guy. He smiled. 

“Welcome boys!” He said spreading his arms out like a showman. Something about him was so familiar to Peter. But, he couldn’t make it out.

“Yea I’m feeling real welcome,” Harley said sarcastically. Peter shot him a warning glance. 

“I’m sorry about these two,” He pointed at the two men behind him. “They never were the best at hospitality.” 

Peter hated how casual he was. How he was trying to have a normal conversation with them. How could he possibly have a normal conversation when he was duct-taped to a chair?

“Allow me to introduce myself. I’m-” That’s when it clicked in Peter’s mind. That night at the Stark Expo. With the drones.

“Justin Hammer,” Peter said staring at the ground.

Hammer snapped his finger towards Peter. “The one and only,” He was basking in the moment. Like he had been waiting for it. 

“Yea it would be too fun if there were more of you,” Harley butted in.

Hammer seemed to ignore it. 

“So what do you want with us?” Peter asked.

“That’s a great question kid. Really great. Because I wanted to use this time to explain my evil plan…” 

Harley rolled his eyes. “If you’re not gonna tell us why we’re here can you fuck off?”

Peter gave Harley a ‘STOP NOW’ look. But, he didn’t stop.

“You know, If you’re going to kidnap someone, you don’t have to be such a jackass about it.”

Hammer smirked a bit. He leaned in close. He was only a few inches from Harley’s face. 

“You wanna know why you’re here?” He asked in a voice Peter imagined he used to talk to babies. It was so condescending. “Cuz your daddy has some unfinished business with me.” He gave him a fake smile. As he was going for the door, he whispered something to one of the goons. The man smiled and nodded. And with that, Hammer left. The goon approached Harley with a shit-eating grin.

Peter felt a twang of panic rise in his throat. 

“Hey! Vin Diesel!” Peter shouted. The man turned to him. “Ever heard of body spray? I can smell you from here.” It wasn't one of Peter's best quips... But it got the job done. He had to keep them away from Harley.

The man chuckled and swung a punch to Peter’s stomach. It knocked the wind out of him. Peter coughed for a moment. “I’ve been punched harder by my grandma… And I’ve never even met her,” Peter choked. Again not a very good insult. But, he was on a bit of a time crunch.

He earned a punch in the face for that. 

“You done?” The man asked.

Peter forced a smile. “Not even close sweetheart.”

The man lost control. He began punching Peter repeatedly. But, Peter took it all. As long as they left Harley alone, he could handle it. 

“Stop! He’s done! He’ll shut up!” Harley yelled.

The man seemed to regain his cool. He shook the blood off his fists and both men retreated laughing together.

Peter leaned his head back against the backrest and tried to catch his breath. He could taste metal in his mouth. 

“Holy shit dude,” Harley said. “So that sucked.”

Peter leaned to the side and spit the mouthful of blood onto the floor. “Next time just shut up.”

“Yea…” There was a loaded pause. 

“How does your dad know Hammer?” Peter asked after a moment.

Harley shrugged. 

“He’s never mentioned, Hammer?”

“Maybe he did… I don’t know.”

“What?” 

“I’ve ever met him before,” He didn’t sound pained by this. Just annoyed that Peter hadn’t picked up on it sooner.

“Oh shit… Harley-”

“It happens. Dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it.” He interrupted. 

Peter glanced toward Harley. They were so totally screwed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter awoke to the sound of footsteps. His eyes shot open. He saw Harley still asleep beside him. 

“Harley! Wake up!” Peter stared at the door as the footsteps grew louder. But, they walked right past the door. Peter sighed in relief. He looked over to Harley. He was twitching in his sleep. His face was twisted in pain. He was mumbling. That mumbling very quickly became yelling.

“Wake up!” Peter yelled.

His eyes finally opened. He struggled under the tape and searched the room. He relaxed a bit when he saw Peter. 

“Fuck,” He whispered between breaths.

Peter felt horrible. This whole thing was his fault. He should’ve gotten Happy to drive him home. And none of this would have happened. 

“You good?” Peter asked.

“Fine.” Peter didn't believe him for a second. 

Peter nodded. His neck tingled. 

“They’re coming,” He said. “Stay quiet ok?”

Harley nodded nervously. 

In walked Mr. Showboat. He was tossing Peter’s phone back and forth in his hands. Peter shifted a bit. Escape was so near. 

“I’m a bit disappointed,” Hammer began. “Only four people have called you so far.” 

He pressed on the home button and looked at the notifications. “Missed call from Ned, MJ, May, and Happy. None of which are the man I want to talk to.”

Peter squirmed a little. If he got a hold of that phone, he could be out of here in less than four hours.

“I’m gonna need your password.” He said. Peter almost scoffed. As if he would fall for that. “Of course I could just use your thumbprint.”

Peter deflated. It was almost too easy for this asshole to get what he wants. But he would rather die than give them his password. “Just use the thumbprint.”

Hammer smirked. He walked around and unlocked the phone. “Now the fun begins,” He said

“I thought the fun was last night,” Harley said. Hammer looked at the man beside him and almost instantly, there was a piece of tape over Harley’s mouth.

Hammer dialled Mr. Stark. Peter hated himself. But, it gave them the chance to have the call traced. 

Hammer put the phone on speaker.

“Hey kid, is Harley with you? He kinda stormed out last night.” Hammer put a finger over his mouth. Shooshing Peter. 

“Peter? You there?” Mr. Stark asked.

“I wouldn’t count on a response buddy,” He was enjoying this too much.

“Who is this?” His voice changed from talking to a friend to talking to the devil. It was kinda spooky.

“An old friend! You can’t tell me you don’t remember!” Hammer exclaimed.

“Put the kid on the phone,” 

“That’s no fun!” 

“Mr. Sta-” One of the men put his hand around Peter’s mouth. 

Harley was just staring at the floor. He didn’t even try to speak.

“Aw, he ruined the surprise!” He said jokingly. “Yes, I have them both here so there’s no need to worry yourself Stark.”

“What do you want?” 

“I want all your research, funding, and prototypes of the Iron Man armour. Everything you have on it.”

“How do I know you have both kids? I only heard one.”

Harley looked up at Peter as if asking if he should confirm him being alive and present. Peter shook his head. If he did, Tony would 100% give up the suits. The hand on Peter’s face pulled his head back so he couldn’t move it anymore. 

“You want vocal confirmation or something?” Hammer asked losing his patience. 

“Yes,” 

“Fine,” Hammer sighed.

The other guard grabbed a fistful of Harley’s hair and yanked his head up. He tried as hard as he could to not make any noise.

“Say hi!” Hammer said in his baby voice.

Harley didn’t make a sound.

Hammer was definitely losing his patience. “Break his wrist,” He grunted. 

Peter yelled from behind the hand.

“Wait!” Tony yelled from the phone.

“You said you wanted vocal confirmation Stark!” He nodded at the man. There was a sickening crack. Harley tried to stay quiet. So there was just a loud groan. 

Peter felt sick. It should have been him. He could heal. This was all his fault. 

“There you have it. Two kids, one incredibly handsome, soon to be very wealthy, Justin Hammer!” He sounded like a kid on Christmas eve. “I’ll send you the details on the exchange soon!”

“Wait-” Hammer hung up. 

The hand on Peter’s mouth released him and the guard let go of Harley’s hair. He shoved Harley’s head forward for good measure. They took the tape off his mouth. 

“We don’t want another peep from you,” The guard said before leaving the room.

Peter noticed Harley was trying very hard to not look in his direction.

“Are you ok?” He asked. Because that’s all Peter could do.

“Fine,” 

“Dude…”

“You wanna know why I’m here for the summer?” Harley started. His tone was much sadder than when he began the story the previous night. “My mom kicked me out… So, I drove that car Tony gave me to the first place I could think of.”

“Why didn’t you stay in Tennessee?”

“There’s nothing left for me there. My mom and I have been going back and forth with the being kicked out thing… But this time’s different. So, I knew Tony would let me stay for the summer until I could find a place.”

“Does Mr. Stark know that?”

“Of course...” He laughed. “That's what we were arguing about.”

Damn… Peter hadn’t realized how hard Harley had had it. It was crazy how similar they were.

“We’re gonna get out of here,” Peter said.

“This is all my fault,” Harley said.

“What?”

“If I had’ve just stayed in the tower none of this shit would’ve happened.”

“Hey, that’s my job. Taking the blame is my job.”

“Then what’s my job?” You get to be the one who gets blame me for everything.”

They both laughed a bit at that. It was nice to get an almost normal moment with Harley.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another hour or two went by. They mostly just sat in silence. When Peter heard the familiar sound or the repulsor jets. He tried to stay calm. But it was hard to mask his relief. By the time Harley could hear the fighting, Tony was only one floor above them. Peter heard some shuffling in front of the door. 

“Ditch the kids,” He heard someone whisper. Peter smiled and broke through his tape. Harley looked in awe at his new strength. Peter ditched his chair and was about to rip Harley out before the door opened. One of the men was standing in the doorway pointing a gun at the two of them. Peter put his hands up calmly. 

The man decided not to waste any more time. He fired twice. Peter could see it happening in slow motion. Two bullets. Two targets. They were moving too fast. Either Peter dodged his. Or he blocked Harley. Obviously he blocked Harley. He jumped over the chair in a backflip and landed in front of Harley. The second he touched the floor it was just pain. White-hot pain all over his body. He stood for a moment realizing what he had just done. Harley’s face was a mixture of shock and horror. 

Peter swallowed thickly before collapsing on the floor.

“Holy shit…” Harley said. The man in the doorway had the same reaction. The man shook it off and raised his gun once again Harley closed his eyes. He didn’t hear the gun go off. He heard a repulsor. The man was blasted away. 

Harley strained on the tape. He needed to get out. He needed to help Peter. “Tony! We’re in here! Help!” The last word came out as more of a sob. The puddle of blood was growing every second. Harley screamed trying to free his arms. He could feel the bones in his broken wrist grinding together. He didn’t care how much it hurt. But, they didn’t budge. 

“Kid!” A voice yelled. Harley looked up to see War Machine approach. “When did this happen?” He asked.

“Like a minute ago,” He said trying to calm himself down.

“Tony I need evac Peter’s hurt,” the face of the suit lifted. “I see two gsws… alright bringing him to you.”

War Machine turned to Harley. “Tony’s coming to get you!” The face of the suit dropped down and out he flew. 

‘He could’ve at least untied me,’ He thought as he listened to the fight above. He wobbled his chair back and forth until he fell backwards and hit his head hard on the ground. His wrist burned from the amount of pressure on it. He really thought the chair would break. That’s what they always did in movies. But, it was a metal chair. God, he was stupid.

The fight upstairs suddenly went silent. He couldn’t help but think the worst. But, before he could worry any more, Iron Man was stepping into the room. Harley was incredibly relieved. Tony put the chair upright and ripped the duct tape off his arms. The first thing Harley did was he buried his face in his hands. Tony put a hand on his shoulder. Not a metallic hand. His hand. Harley turned around and hugged the shit out of Tony. Harley was never the hugging type. But, he felt now was an appropriate time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter looked like shit. Like really really bad. Harley’s stomach kinda twisted when he saw him. He was pale and covered in sweat. His hair was wet and slicked onto his face. But, he was just glad Peter was alive.

Harley’s arm was in a cast. It hurt, But he didn’t care. He just needed to see Peter. Tony had been on his ass about getting some rest for the past three hours. So, Harley snuck out of his bedroom in the middle of the night to see him. He had to be quiet because Tony was in a chair right across from Peter. But, he was asleep. Harley snuck past him and plopped into a chair on the other side of Peter’s bed. He wanted to be there when Peter woke up.

He sat there just trying not to think about all the fucked up shit that happened over the past two days. And he didn’t mean to fall asleep. He was really trying to stay awake. But, the room was dark and it was so warm that he couldn’t help it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harley awoke to footsteps. He didn’t want to wake up yet. He kept his eyes closed in hopes he could still salvage a few hours. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He jerked awake and began flailing his arms in front of his face. For a minute he was back in that dumbass chair. In that stupid room. But, when he opened his eyes, he was in the tower. Tony was standing over him. 

“Oh shit… Sorry,” Harley said immediately.

“What are you doing here?” He asked ignoring the freakout.

It took Harley a minute to catch his breath. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Uh-huh,” He said not believing him for a second.

There was a small twang of guilt in Harley’s gut when Peter started stirring. He could help but think he woke him up.

“Hey kid,” Tony said returning to his chair. “You feeling better?”

“Ow…” Peter croaked.

Tony chuckled a bit. “Yea I bet.”

Harley got up from his chair and leaned onto Peter’s bed. 

“Oh hey-” Harley punched Peter’s shoulder. “Ow!”

“You’re an asshole Parker!” He yelled.

“Wha-”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You backflipped over my chair? What the fuck was that?”

“Hey cool it,” Tony piped in.

“I had to dude... You would’ve died.”

“You could’ve died!” He yelled.

Peter spared a glance at Tony. 

“How did you even break the tape? Are you a gymnast or something?”

“Uhh, my hands were really sweaty… So they slipped out.” Peter said. “And I took gymnastics my whole life.”

Harley didn’t believe him for a second. He had seen the duct tape after Peter got out. It was ripped. If he had’ve slipped out, it would’ve been intact. He knew there was something they weren’t telling him. But, he didn’t press it. He’d find out eventually. He would just need to pay a bit more attention.

“You’re good though right?” Harley asked.

“Yea…” He knew it was a lie. But, Harley was glad Peter lied. He didn’t want to know all the terrible details.

“You should get some rest kid,” Tony said breaking Harley’s train of thought.

“Which kid?” Peter laughed.

“Both.”

Harley collapsed his head onto the bed. “Oh god, Tony why are you so lame?”

Tony smacked Harley lightly on the back. “C’mon kid. You got some sleep the catch up on.”

“Wait are you not gonna tell us what happened to that jackass?” Harley realized.

Tony sighed. He had probably been hoping to avoid this question. “We found his getaway car a few miles out. It crashed. We looked everywhere but… He left before we got there.”

Peter visibly tensed. Tony obviously noticed.

“We have every FBI agent on the case. You guys have nothing to worry about.” This did nothing to ease Harley’s conscience.

“The longer we sit here the less sleep you seem to be getting.”

Harley sighed but, followed. He said goodnight to Peter and was lead back to his bedroom.

“Do me a favour… Stay here.”

Harley laughed and fell on the bed. He was more tired now. He could definitely sleep ok now that he knew Peter would be fine.

God… That whole thing felt so distant by now. And he was glad. He hated thinking about it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been so active this month!! It's mostly because online school started so, I write fics to avoid doing homework. But, It's been going really great! new chapters soon!

“Parker!” A voice called from behind. Peter rolled his eyes and slammed his locker. He was having such a good day. How could Flash always seem to sense that? He began walking to class a bit faster than usual.

“Parker!” The voice called again. It didn’t sound like Flash… Peter turned around and scanned the busy hallway. And that’s when he spotted Harley.

“Keener?” Peter called back.

“Dude! Tony got me into school!”

“That’s awesome!” Peter meant it. “You still at the tower?”

“Yea Tony won’t let me find a place,” They hadn’t seen each other in about a month. Peter went camping with Ned for the last bit of summer. And yea Peter felt bad about leaving his Spider-manning behind for a whole month. But, he needed the time off. After all the shit at the beginning of the summer, he felt he deserved it.

“What classes you got?” Peter thought it best to change the subject.

“Uhh, chem, Spanish, algebra, and history.” He said. “You?”

“We’ll have history together.”

Harley smiled. Peter was glad to have a class with him. He missed him over that month of camping.

“Hey, Penis Parker!” Flash called from the end of the hall. Harley’s smile faded. 

“You know this guy?”

“Yea he’s… Don’t worry about him. He’s just this guy that likes to annoy me. It’s nothing.”

“Yo! Is that your boyfriend?” Flash asked as they approached.

“Hey, Flash… How was your summer?” Peter asked.

“Wait, your name is Flash?” Harley laughed. “So like on your birth certificate it says Flash?”

Peter shot him a ‘What The Fuck Are You Doing’ look. But, he continued.

“Dude I don’t know if I want it to be a nickname or not. Cuz it’s so dumb.”

Flash looked shocked. Obviously, no one had ever thought to point out how apparently stupid his name was.

“Obviously your family doesn’t love you if they gave you some shit name like Flash!”

Flash snapped. He ran into Harley knocking them both to the ground. Flash was on top of Harley and started punching him repeatedly.

Peter had no idea what to do. Flash was never violent before. He was just a bit of a dick. But never violent. Peter snapped out of his thoughts and pulled Flash off. Harley was laying on the ground. It looked like Flash only got one good hit in. Peter relaxed a bit as he held Flash’s arms. He was fighting against Peter trying to get back to punching Harley.

At this point, a large crowd had gathered. Because that’s just what high school kids did when a fight broke out. 

Flash managed to slip from Peter’s grip just as Harley got back to his feet. Flash pushed Peter away and sent him crashing into the lockers. Flash tackled Harley and they both landed on the floor hard. This time, Harley fought back. Flash didn’t stand a chance. Harley got in one solid punch before Peter pulled him off. But, that’s all Mr. Morita needed to see before breaking through the crowd. The crowd dispersed when they saw him. 

“You three, in my office now.”

Harley shook off Peter’s grip. They all followed the principle to the office. Peter had no clue why he was sent to the office. He had been breaking up the fight. 

They sat in the office for a few minutes before Mr. Morita called in Harley. Peter glanced at Flash. His eye was swollen. He was holding an ice pack from the nurse against it. He looked miserable. Peter couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Even if he was kinda a dick. He didn’t deserve to get his ass kicked.

After about ten minutes Harley was let out and Peter was called in. He sat down in the metal chair and Mr. Morita instantly started talking.

“Mr. Parker…” He paused seemingly for dramatic effect. “You’re not the type to get into fights. What’s happening?”

“I wasn’t fighting… I was trying to break them up.”

“Mr. Keener said the same thing. Do you know what caused the fight?”

Peter hesitated. He didn’t want to get Harley in trouble on the first day. “Flash was saying some stuff and I guess he pissed Harley off… So, they started fighting.”

“What did Flash say?”

Again Peter hesitated. “Uh, he asked if Harley and I were dating.”

“And this caused Harley to start the fight?” 

“No, Flash started it. Cuz Harley started making fun of his name.”

Mr. Morita nodded. He seemed to be in thought. 

“Now, it says here that Mr. Keeners’s emergency contact is Tony Stark. Do you know who his real emergency contact is?”

“Uh, no... Harley lives with Mr. Stark.”

He didn't believe him for a second. “I know this is Mr. Keener’s first day at a new school. And I know how hard it is to transfer in senior year… Do you think you could keep an eye on him? Keep him in check?”

“Yea of course,” Peter said feeling a bit guilty.

“Alright… Get outta here. Don’t wanna miss homeroom.”

Peter left his office and sat beside Harley.

“He’s calling Mr. Stark,” Peter whispered.

“Yea I know…”

“Don’t tell him what happened.”

“Why?”

“Just please don’t. Promise?”

“Fine…”

“Mr. Parker?” Mr. Morita called from his office. “Do you want to miss homeroom?”

“Sorry,” Peter said rushing to class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He did what?” Tony was shocked. Harley started a fight on the first day… 

“All right, I’ll come get him,” He hung up the phone and wiped his hands over his face. God… This kid will be the death of him. He shoved his phone in his pocket and hopped in the car. He drove in silence all the way to the school. 

When he walked in, Harley was sitting with his hand resting in his hand. He looked miserable. Tony chose to ignore that.

“Hi,” He said to the very surprised office lady. “I’m here to pick up Harley Keener.”

“Of course sir,” She said giving him the suspension slip. Tony turned and left the office. Harley followed. They walked to the parking lot and climbed into the Audi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You wanna talk about why you got suspended on the first day?” Tony began as they pulled out of the parking lot. “No, wait. Scratch that. Before class even started.”

Harley rolled his eyes. “He started the fight…”

“Who?”

“Flash!” He could tell by Tony’s expression that he had heard that name before.

“And how did he start it?” 

Harley hesitated. Parker didn’t want him to talk about it to Tony. “He was talking shit… So, I started talking shit back. And he just attacked me.”

Tony shook his head. “Can you ever learn to shut up? You’re just like Peter.” 

That confused Harley. Peter was so quiet the whole interaction with Flash. “He broke it up.”

Tony scoffed. “Yea of course he did.”

That confused Harley even more. Scrawny Peter Parker went around school breaking up fights? The thought made him laugh. 

“What were you thinking?” Tony asked.

“I’m not just gonna sit there and take that shit! You’re the one who taught me to fight off assholes.”

“Not on the first day of school…”

“This is bullshit! I was doing it for Peter.”

“What?”

Oh shit… He didn’t mean to say that. Shit. Peter was going to kill him.

“Whatever, forget it.”

“No no no, what do you mean you were doing it for him?”

Harley sighed. “This guy’s been bugging Parker… I couldn’t just stand there and watch.”

“What do you mean bugging?” Tony looked confused.

“He… He was just being a dick.”

Tony rolled his eyes. But, he didn’t press it any further. Thank god…

They rode in silence for the rest of the trip. Harley couldn’t help but feel like shit. And his face kinda hurt. 

When they finally arrived at the tower, it felt like a two-hour ride. Harley slipped out of the car and retreated to his room. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. This whole thing was bullshit. He plopped into bed and stared at the ceiling. His room was still pretty empty despite the fact he had lived there for two months. He had brought a garbage bag of clothes, his laptop, and all the tech stuff Tony gave him when he was 11. He had a new poster on his wall of Iron Man that Tony so graciously gifted to him to lighten up the room. He tried not to look at it. It made him feel weird. He couldn’t really tell why.

Of course Tony had grounded Harley. But, where would he go? It’s not like he had friends to go out with anyway. So, he just sat in bed and watched Netflix. A few hours later, there was a knock on the door. He ignored it thinking it was Tony. He really didn’t want to talk to him.

“Dude, It’s me,” Peter said from behind the door. 

“Fine,” Harley said from his bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter opened the door and slowly walked in. Harley was watching The Office. Peter leaned against the door unsure if he was welcome.

“So, Tony knows…” Peter began.

“I know… It kinda slipped out.”

“It’s ok.”

“No, it’s not! Who even are you? You can break up fights? You can break through duct tape? You can backflip over a chair? You know everything about me but I don’t know shit about you!”

“Harley-”

“If you’re not gonna tell me what the fuck is going on, then please leave me alone,” he finally turned to the door. His face was bruised from where Flash hit him. It didn’t look too bad. But, it probably hurt.

Peter hesitated. He couldn’t tell him yet. Harley wouldn’t tell anyone of course. But, it wasn’t the right time. 

“I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know. What am supposed to say?” 

“I don’t know! You know what? I don’t even care anymore.”

Peter sighed. Harley turned back to the tv. So, Peter did what Harley so obviously wanted him to do. He left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘What a dick.’ Harley thought as the door shut. This whole thing was bullshit. Why did he even bother to go to school if he would just get suspended on the first day? He turned the tv off and began packing. He would rather be in Tennessee than in this shit hole. He got his garbage bag of clothes and his backpack and headed for the car.

He was in the elevator when it stopped. The doors opened and in walked Peter. They exchanged confused looks before Peter stepped in. The doors closed and they began their long descent. Harley leaned against the wall. 

“Where you going?” Peter asked after an uncomfortably long pause.

“I’m leaving.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going back to Tenessee.”

“Uhh… Are you sure you want to?”

“What are you gonna do? Stop me? Tell Tony?”

“No… But, I don’t think you should go back. You can’t quit just because you got in one fight.”

“Who cares?”

“Me…” 

There was a loaded pause. Harley soaked it in. Peter cares about him… That’s a first. He leaned his head against the wall. Shit… Someone cared about him. He slid his back down the wall to the floor. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. What the hell was he doing?

“I can’t leave…” He said.

“Thank god. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to drive all the way to Tenessee with you.”

“You would’ve gotten in the car?”

“Obviously. You can’t drive 15 hours on your own when you don’t even know where you’re going.”

Harley smiled. Maybe Peter really did care about him. 

“You’re full of shit Parker. You couldn’t stand five minutes in a car with me.”

“You wanna bet? We could test that right now. You could drive me home.”

“You’re on.” The doors dinged and they both stepped into the car. 

Peter was right. He could stand more than five minutes in his car. They liked all the same music, they talked about science and all that nerdy shit. It was his first time having this kind of moment with Peter. When they weren’t talking about school, or Tony, or duct-taped to chairs. It made him feel better about the whole situation. He had to stay in New York. How else would he talk to Peter?


	3. Chapter 3

“You can bring Harley!” May bribed.

“I don’t know May… Do you really want us there?” Peter asked.

“Yes! I want you to meet him.”

May and Greg had been dating for about four months. Peter hadn’t had time to meet him with all his Spider-Man stuff and school. So, he invited Peter and May to his house for dinner. 

“Do you really want us there?” Peter asked again.

“Peter,” She said. “I want you to meet him and tell me what you think of him. Your opinion is important to me.”

Peter wasn’t fully convinced. But, he didn’t want to argue. “Ok… I’ll ask Harley.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course Harley said yes. Peter was so relieved. He really didn’t want to go to this thing alone and third wheel. It’s not that Peter wasn’t happy for May. He was so glad she was dating Greg. She seemed so much happier. It was good for her to have someone other than Peter. Since he wasn’t always home. 

May had left for Greg’s house a few hours early to help him set up. So, Harley picked Peter up and drove them together. Greg lived in the suburbs. That excited Peter a bit. He had only been there a few times. 

“You think he’ll let me have a beer?” Harley asked. 

“You’re driving,” Peter said, raising an eyebrow.

“What if I tell him I’m 21?”

“You go to my school… I think May knows that.”

“I didn’t say I would ask May…”

Peter rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They pulled into the driveway and got a look at the house. It looked just like Liz’s house. The windows were huge and it had a pool.

“Dude…” Harley said. “This is awesome.”

Peter shook his head and headed for the door. He could hear music playing from somewhere in the house. It was a song he’d heard Uncle Ben play. It was a beautiful song. Peter stood and listened. It made him sad and happy at the same time. 

“You gonna knock?” Harley asked impatiently. Peter snapped out of his thoughts and knocked on the door. Obviously Harley couldn’t hear the music. Greg answered the door. Light flooded the dark lawn. The music was louder now. Even Harley could hear it. It smelled good too. May had never made anything without burning it before. Greg must’ve done most of the work. 

Speaking of Greg, he was a good looking man. He was tall, buff, and a nurse. He worked with May. Which meant they got to see each other every day. 

“You must be Peter!” He said with a smile. He outstretched his hand and Peter shook it. Greg’s eyes moved onto Harley. “And you’re Harley,” He said shaking Harley’s hand too. “Come on in guys.”

Peter and Harley shuffled into the house and took it in. It was huge. Well, huge for New York… 

Greg reminded Peter of someone. He couldn't quite place it though.

“You’re just in time! Dinner’s just about done.” May called from the kitchen. 

Peter followed her voice to the kitchen. It was nice. Really nice. It was big and lightly coloured. The food looked good. They made some ravioli. 

“Peter would you mind going to the cellar and grabbing a bottle of wine?” Greg asked. “And Harley would you help set the table?” 

They both nodded and got to work. Peter found the stairs to the basement and climbed down. The floor was concrete and had dents and holes. The walls were unpainted drywall and it was dark. There was one lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Peter tugged on the chain hanging beside the bulb. It buzzed to life. There was dust everywhere. It was a stark difference from the beautiful house above. Peter and found the cellar. He looked around for the closest bottle before spotting something in the corner of his eye. He turned to look at it. A small book was tucked into one of the wine racks. He reached and pulled it out. He opened it. At first he thought the pages were blank. He skimmed through the book until he saw a page with writing. There was a drawing of May. It was in charcoal. It made Peter uneasy for some reason. He flipped the page and was met with writing. His stomach dropped when he read what had been written.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He’s been down there for a while…” May said setting the last plate onto the table.

“I’ll go see what’s happening,” Harley said heading for the basement.

“No!” Greg shouted. He cleared his throat. “I’ll go check on him. He’s probably wondering which bottle to grab. May why don’t you show Harley the pool and we’ll catch up with you.”  
May nodded and headed for the pool. Harley reluctantly followed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter felt sick. Greg was writing about his plans… His plans to kill May. He was sick. 

Peter jumped when the door to the basement slammed shut. Peter’s spider-sense went off. He closed the book and shoved it back onto the cellar shelf. He grabbed a bottle and pretended to be walking towards the stairs. He froze when he was met with Greg. 

“You ok down here? May’s getting worried you got lost.” He chuckled. Peter hated how he said May’s name. He needed to get out of there. He suddenly regretted bringing Harley. Peter noticed Greg’s eyes moving around the cellar. That’s when Peter realized he put the book on the wrong shelf.

“Yea I was just trying to decide which bottle to bring up. Does this one work?” Peter tried to make himself sound less scared. He wasn’t sure if it was working. 

Greg pushed past him and picked up the book. “You didn’t read this did you?” Greg asked. Peter suddenly realized what Greg reminded him of. Toomes. The vulture. Peter slowly backed out of the cellar. 

“I’ll go put this on the table,” He said, raising the bottle. He turned to the door and ran up the stairs. Greg chased after him and grabbed Peter’s ankle. He yanked Peter down the stairs. Peter’s fingertips grazed the doorknob. He slammed down onto the stairs. The wine bottle smashed in his hand. The glass cut deep into his palm. 

“Harley!” Peter yelled.

Greg grabbed the back of his collar and yanked him back off the stairs and slammed him into the wall. Peter wanted to fight back. But, he couldn’t risk giving away his identity. If Greg found out he was Spider-man, he would target May or Harley. 

Greg punched Peter hard in the jaw. Peter fell to his hands and knees. Greg was stronger than he thought. He landed a kick to Peter’s stomach. He fell onto his back and coughed harshly. Greg got on top of him. Peter tried to push him off but, His wrists were held to the ground with incredible strength. He must be enhanced. Peter struggled to get free. He had to get May and Harley out.

“When I’m finished with you down here, I’m gonna get that beautiful aunt of yours.” Greg laughed. Peter panicked. So, he did the one thing he could.

“Harley! Harley! Get May out of here! Call Mr.-” Peter was cut off by Greg grabbing him by the hair and smashing his head into the concrete floor. Peter saw stars but, he didn’t pass out. He hoped Harley heard him and got May out. Greg was confused as to why Peter hadn’t passed out. But, he didn’t stay shocked for long. He just wrapped his hands around Peter’s neck. 

“Harley!” Peter rasped. He clawed at the huge hands around his neck. He kicked his legs around uselessly. His attempts to free himself slowly got weaker. His vision darkened and it became hard for him to keep his eyes closed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony sighed as his phone rang for the third time. He rolled his eyes and asked FRIDAY to answer the call. As to not interrupt his work.

“TONY!” Harley yelled over the line. There was a crash and a yell in the background.

“What’s going on? I thought you were at Aunt Hottie’s boyfriend’s,” Tony asked dropping everything.

“Peter went down to the basement and Greg went down to check on him and then we heard yelling and crashes and we need your help!” Harley said followed by Peter yelling to them from the basement. Tony’s stomach twisted. 

“I’m on my way. Get May out of there!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter gasped as the pressure was released from his throat. He coughed violently and crawled back into the wall. He panted for a moment before looking to see what had happened. Greg was fighting against iron man. Peter stood and leaned against the wall for support. He balled his fists and joined the fight. He punched Greg in the back of the head and dodged his incoming fist. Greg grabbed Iron Man by his neck and slammed him against the wall. The drywall shattered behind him. Greg pulled Mr. Stark’s mask off and punched Tony right in the face. That’s all it took for him to be out. Then, he turned back to Peter. Peter backed into the wall. He was so screwed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We can’t leave him in there!” May shouted.

“Tony said to get you out of here!” Harley replied pulling her to the car. They climbed in and Harley fumbled for his keys. He deflated. He left them in the kitchen. He buried his face in his hands.

“What? What happened?” May asked.

“I left the keys in the kitchen…” He thought for a moment and weighed his options. “Stay here!” He said jumping out of the car and ran for the front door. He cracked the front door open. It was quiet. Not like it was when he and May ran out. He ran to the kitchen and grabbed the keys. He pressed the button to lock the doors of the car. He silently thanked himself for messing with the buttons on the keys to make them long distance. He was slowly and quietly making his way back to the car. That’s when he heard Peter scream. His blood ran cold. He couldn’t just leave him down there.

Despite his gut telling him to leave, he opened the basement door just a bit and peeked down. Peter was lying face down on the concrete. There was a puddle of blood around him. Tony was halfway through the wall and his face was bloody. Harley just stood and stared at the scene. He felt sick. 

Greg’s head suddenly snapped toward Harley. He slammed the door and ran. He had the keys. He just needed to get out. He pulled the front door open and got one step outside before being yanked back into the house by his arm. He fell backwards onto the floor. The keys fell and bounced under the table. Greg was looming over him. 

“Shit…” Harley breathed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony opened his eyes. His nose was definitely broken. He gently shook his head to clear the grogginess. He looked around until he saw Peter. He was lying face down in a puddle of his own blood. Tony pulled himself to his feet and flipped Peter over onto his back. 

“Read vitals FRIDAY,” He said. His heart was beating out of his chest.

“I’m detecting a heartbeat and regular breaths. He’s just knocked out,” She replied.

Tony’s sigh of relief was cut short when he heard a shout from upstairs. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Fuck you! You asshole!” Harley yelled. 

Greg seemed a bit tired of fighting. He just grabbed Harley by the shoulders and threw him into the glass door to the pool. It shattered under him. It gashed into his back and his head. He coughed and rolled over in attempts to get away from the glass. All it did was get glass stuck in his side and front. Someone came up behind him and grabbed him by the hair and smacked his face into the stone of the pool deck. His vision went dark for a minute.

He could distantly hear and feel things happening around him. He felt someone grab him by his hair and lift him to his knees. He tried to struggle. But, he could only let out a small groan. And suddenly, he was cold. Freezing cold. Water filled his lungs. He was in the pool. His eyes shot open. He tried to swim out. But, he couldn’t move enough. He could only watch the surface get further and further from him. His lungs screamed for air. He thrashed under the water until his vision went dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter groaned. He opened his eyes to the basement ceiling. He gasped when he realized what was happening. He stood and ran up the stairs. He looked at the shattered glass door and ran to the pool deck. Mr. Stark was still fighting Greg. It seemed Greg was losing this time. 

“Kid-pool-Harley-” was all he said. Peter rushed to the pool and dove in. He grabbed Harley and swam to the surface. He shoved him onto the deck and tried to pull himself out. His left arm collapsed. Searing pain travelled through it. He looked down to see the bone sticking out. He sucked in his yell as he pulled himself up with his right arm. 

Harley was still unconscious when Peter got out. Peter leaned over his head and listened for his breaths. There was nothing. 

“Mr. Stark he’s not breathing!” He yelled.

“You’re gonna have to do CPR!” He yelled back.

Peter panicked as he lifted Harley’s chin and began compressing his chest. He bit his lip to keep his yell of pain. His arm screamed at him.

After 30 chest compressions, Peter plugged Harley’s nose and breathed into his mouth. Nothing happened. Peter did 30 more chest compressions. That time, he couldn’t keep his pain in. 

“Come on! BREATHE!” He screamed. He plugged Harley’s nose once again and blew into his mouth. When he pulled away, Harley coughed. Water splashed from his mouth. He rolled onto his stomach and coughed. Peter sat back and buried his face in his hands.

“You guys ok?” Mr. Stark asked after finally knocking Greg out. 

Peter stood and ran to the front door. May got out of Harley’s car. She grabbed Peter and hugged him. She sobbed and rubbed his back. Peter sighed in relief. They were all ok. May released from the hug. 

“Are you ok? Are you hurt?” She asked scanning him for injuries. Her eyes widened at the sight of his arm. 

“It’s fine May,” He said pulling his arm away from her sight. 

“Where’s Harley?” She asked looking at the shattered door. “I saw him go in the pool.”

“He’s fine. He’s with Mr. Stark” Peter sighed. He led her to the pool deck where they saw Harley leaned against the fence. He was still coughing violently. Tony had exited the suit and was now patting Harley on his back. May took over and let Tony talk to Peter.

“What happened?” Tony asked. “Guys don’t just almost kill two 17-year-old kids.” 

Peter led Mr. Stark down to the cellar and handed him the book. “I was getting a bottle of wine and I found it. He saw me reading it and he attacked me.”

Tony flipped through the pages and read it. He swore under his breath before closing it and dragging his hand down his face. 

“Don’t show May… If she saw it she would freak out.”

“Yea yea and when she freaks out you freak out,” Tony said. He seemed to think for a minute before completing his plan. “I’m gonna wait here for the police. You get Cho to look at that arm and get her to fix up Harley while she’s at it.”

Peter nodded and looked around the kitchen for the keys. He found them under the table and snatched them up. He ran to the pool and gave May the keys. He told her to go start the car and she ran off. 

“Can you walk?” Peter asked Harley. Harley nodded and stumbled to his feet. Peter had to grab him before he fell forward. Peter put his good arm around his hips and half walked half dragged him to the car. In the light of the house, he could see a trail of blood coming from his head. He carefully put him in the back seat and climbed into the front. 

“We need to get to the tower. Harley needs his head checked out,” Peter said as May pulled out of the driveway.

After a few minutes of silent driving, Peter was suddenly hyper-aware of all his injuries. His right palm was now gushing blood. His nose was definitely broken too. His whole body just hurt. 

After what felt like hours, they finally arrived in the garage of the tower. Cho was waiting there with two gurneys. Cho’s team helped Harley out of the car and onto the first gurney. Peter declined his gurney and chose to follow behind Harley. Cho gave Peter a blanket to wear while he waited for Cho to check him out. He shivered from the cold water regardless. 

After an hour, Cho rushed into Peter’s room. A nurse had already looked at Peter and diagnosed all of his injuries. Cho was muttering about needing more than one doctor. 

“Alright Mr. Parker,” She said. “We’re going to need to reset your arm.”

Peter nodded and placed his arm in her hands. He had Cho reset his bones before. But, none this bad. Of course he didn’t have any aesthetic. They still hadn’t found one that would work on him. He gripped the edge of the table he was sitting on and shut his eyes tight.

“On three ok?” Cho said. Peter nodded. He took a deep breath and held it. “One-” his arm crunched and he screamed. 

“Sorry… It’s just easier on one,” She said releasing his arm. Peter nodded and caught his breath. “Now comes the worst part.”

“That wasn’t the worst?” Peter breathed.

“We still have to stitch you up.”

Peter sighed. It was going to be a long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter walked out of his bedroom after changing into his pyjamas. There was a box of Pizza on the table beside Mr. Stark. Peter smiled and sat in the closest seat. He grabbed a slice and practically inhaled it. 

Mr. Stark looked rattled. He had some butterfly bandages around his face and on his nose. He was sitting with his head resting on his fist. He looked like he was in deep thought.

“Everything ok?” Peter asked between bites of pizza.

“I read the book…” He said. “He was enhanced. He was born into hydra. They experimented on him. They were trying to recreate Cap. But he broke out as a teenager and went into med school to try to fix himself. He wrote about other women he’s killed. At least four.” 

Peter didn’t feel very hungry anymore. He put his half-eaten slice down and rubbed his hands over his face.

“May’s lucky to have had you there. I don’t want to know what could’ve happened if you and Harley weren’t there,” Tony said sincerely.

Peter nodded. He didn’t feel lucky. What would’ve been lucky was if May had never met Greg.

“Is Harley ok?” Peter asked to stop his mind from spiralling further.

“Thanks to you yea. Just a concussion. How’s the arm?” 

“Fine.”

Mr. Stark just nodded. “We got May a room. She’s fine just a little shaken.”

Peter nodded. 

“You should get some sleep. You can see May and Harley tomorrow.”

The thought of sleep was hypnotic for Peter. He nodded again and walked to his room. He fell into his bed and asked FRIDAY to turn the light off. 

He didn’t fall asleep right away. He just laid and thought about what had just occurred. It happened so fast. 

After an hour, his bedroom door opened. Peter sat up and squinted at the figure. It was May. She walked in and sat on the end of Peter’s bed. 

“You ok?” Peter asked.

“I was just checking on you.” Peter knew she was lying. He did the same thing after he had a nightmare. He opened up the blankets and let May crawl in with him. She wrapped her arms around him and he felt better. They were both ok. And that’s all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lord that was long... I hope i got better at fights cuz I'm really bad lol. I hope you enjoyed :) it was really fun to write!


	4. Chapter 4

“You guys are gonna miss me, I’m gonna miss you. There’s gonna be a lot of manful tears around here,” Tony said on the drive up. “I mean MIT is a huge deal. But, it’s a bit too far from New York for my taste.”

Peter rolled his eyes. Tony had been on the phone with them since they left New York.

“We’re gonna be fine Tony…” Harley said for the thousandth time.

“Well, you could’ve at least said goodbye in person,” Tony said bitterly.

“We would’ve been two days late to orientation if we did,” Harley said, not taking his eyes off the road.

“It was Harley’s idea!” Peter shouted.

“You snitch.”

“Are you guys sure you don’t want me to come down there? I could help you unpack.”

“Yea until you get all sentimental and try to guilt-trip us into going back to New York,” Harley laughed.

“No I wouldn’t…” Neither Peter nor Harley believed that.

“We’re gonna be ok,” Peter said. “And if anything happens, we’ll only be like four hours away!”

“Oh god…” Yea… Maybe Peter shouldn’t have mentioned that.

“Ok, we’re here!” Harley changed the subject.

“Oh my boys are in college! I’m so proud.”

“Ok gotta go now…”

“Wait! I just wanna say I'm gonna come visit your dorm. What days work for you guys?”

“We’ll figure it out later, Bye mom!” Harley joked.

“Fine… I’ll just sit here and think about how old I am…”

“This is what we meant by guilt-tripping us,” Peter said.

“Fine, You guys unpack and text me when you get your schedules ok?”

“Yea thanks great talk bye!” Harley said and ended the call before Tony could get sentimental again.

“That was rude!” Peter said.

“Dude I didn’t want to have to spend another hour in the car when we could be unpacking!”

Peter rolled his eyes and slid out of the car. He was super excited to room with Harley. Over the last year, they had gotten really close. They spent pretty much all of their senior year together. And since they were both going to MIT, it only made sense for them to room together. They grabbed as much stuff from the trunk that they could carry and made their way to the front desk. They got their room keys and a trolly for their bags. They were practically jumping up and down when they unlocked the door for the first time. It was a small room with two beds, two desks, and a bathroom. 

“Hey! We got our own bathroom!” Harley exclaimed.

“Thank god! I would die if we had to share with the whole floor.”

“I call this bed!” Harley shouted and jumped onto his bunk. Peter rolled his eyes and plopped his backpack onto his bed. The room was so empty. The walls were bare and the beds were just mattresses. It was weird for him to think that would be where he would live until June. 

Harley dropped his phone on the bed beside him and pretended to be dead. “You’re gonna have to unpack for me Parker…”

“Why?” Peter asked, laying back on his bed. 

“Because I’m dead.”

“That’s gonna work,” Peter replied sarcastically.

“Ok I drove. You unpack.” 

“Fine next time I’ll drive then.”

Harley snorted. “Fuck no.” 

They both got to work. It was going to be a long day. A very long day. They unpacked for about an hour until Harley spoke up.

“This sucks…”

Peter laughed. “What did you expect? Did you think we were gonna go to a party on the first day?”

“Maybe…” 

Peter rolled his eyes and closed his desk drawer. He was finally done. He celebrated by flopping back onto his bed and closing his eyes. God… It felt so good to finally be done with that. It felt like he had been unpacking for days. 

“You’re done too?” Harley asked from across the room.

“Yup!”

“Wanna get some dinner then?”

Peter couldn’t believe it was already dinner time. They went to this gross pizza place nearby. After living in New York his whole life, Massachusetts pizza was horrible. The rest of the night was pretty calm. They explored the city a bit and then ended up watching a movie on Harley’s laptop. It was a bit of an awkward way to watch a movie. They both ended up sitting side by side on the floor and rested their backs against the wall. It was a good movie though. Die Hard was one of Harley’s favourites. Peter wasn’t super interested. But, it was a pretty cool movie. 

After the movie, Peter felt like he had scoliosis. His back cracked as he stood and stretched. Harley snorted.

“You sound like Tony when he stands up.”

Peter laughed. If Mr. Stark were there, he would’ve pretended it wasn’t funny. But, he wasn’t there. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had both settled into bed for the night. Harley was still scrolling his phone when Peter fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter was in his old suit. He was in the warehouse. His warehouse. Peter looked up at the ceiling. It was cracking. He took two steps before the whole ceiling collapsed onto him. He felt his bones crunch on impact. He screamed for help. For anyone to get him out. Last time, he could get out. But, this time was different. He knew it was useless to try to get out. So, he just screamed for anyone to help him. But, then something was familiar about this. He had this dream before… it was a dream. 

Peter squeezed his eyes shut and opened them. He was standing by a pool. Something was sinking to the bottom. Peter got a sudden feeling of panic. His legs began moving on their own ad he ran to jump in. Harley was down there. As he jumped, he was caught by the collar of his shirt and yanked back. He landed roughly on the pool deck. Toomes jumped on him and wrapped his hands around Peter’s throat. Peter clawed at The Vulture’s hands. He had to get to Harley out of the pool.

“Harley!” he groaned. But, it was strange. It didn’t sound like his windpipe was being cut off. He sounded normal. The edges of his vision got blacker and blacker. The vulture grabbed Peter’s wrists and pushed them into the concrete. He couldn’t escape his iron grip. Greg walked onto the pool deck with May. She was crying. Greg had quickly snapped her neck. She crumpled to the ground and didn’t move. He screamed for help. But, May and Harley were dead. And he couldn’t even move. No one was going to help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harley tried to laugh quietly as he scrolled through Instagram. He could hear Peter mumbling in his sleep across the room. After an hour of scrolling, he got tired. So, he put his phone down and rolled onto his other side. The second he closed his eyes, he heard something.

“Harley,” Peter said.

“What?” Harley replied into his pillow. There wasn’t an answer for a moment. “What?” He said again sitting up from his bed. He jumped when Peter screamed. He ran out of his bed and approached Peter’s bed. 

“Dude, wake up.” He didn’t respond. He just kept yelling for Harley. 

Harley turned on the light and put his hand on Peter’s shoulder. His eyes shot open. He sat straight up and grabbed Harley by the shirt and held his fist up ready to strike. Harley put his hands up in surrender. Peter’s eyes were full of hate and fear. Harley had ever seen him like this. Not even when the whole Justin Hammer thing happened.

Peter suddenly snapped out of it and let Harley go. His face crumbled he sat back against the wall. He buried his face in his hands tried to hold in a sob. Harley stood for a moment before crawling up onto Peter’s bed and wrapping him in a hug. Harley was ever the biggest fan of hugs. But, he felt now was the best time for one. Peter hugged him back. For the first time in Harley’s life he enjoyed a hug. They stayed in the hug for a while. Peter sighed and leaned back against the wall. He had his eyes squeezed shut again.

“Wanna talk about it?” Harley asked after a moment of silence.

Peter sat ad thought for a minute. He opened his mouth to begin talking before closing it again. “You were in the pool… But I couldn’t get to you in time. Toom-” He stopped himself quickly. “Greg was there and he stopped me from getting to you. And May… He got her…”

They both sat in silence for a minute. Harley nodded. 

“I get dreams like that too. I go in the pool and you can’t pull me out. Or Justin Hammer comes back…”

Peter nodded. It was silent for another few minutes. Harley broke it by laughing.

“What?” Peter asked.

“Dude,” He said between chuckles. “We’re so fucked up.” 

Peter laughed and nodded. It was too true. 

“You can go back to sleep now,” Peter said.

“You sure?” 

“Yea I feel better…”

“I’ll leave the light on,” Herley said sliding back onto his own bed.

“Goodnight,” Peter said into his pillow.

Harley hummed in response as he drifted back into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is LONG. I really like how it turned out though! Let's see if anyone spots the references I sprinkled in there :)

Peter groaned. Something loud was interrupting his sleep. He turned onto his side and looked at his phone. There were five missed calls from Mr. Stark. 

“Oh shit!” He whispered. He glanced up at his roommate. Of course, he was still fully asleep. It was a wonder how he even woke up on time for class.

Peter snatched his suit from his suitcase under his bed and climbed out of the window. He pulled his suit on and pressed the symbol on his chest. It shrunk until it hugged his body perfectly. The screen in his goggles glowed and suddenly he could see his text messages.

“Hey Karen,” Peter said to seemingly no one.

“Hello, Peter. It’s been a while. How were your midterms?” His AI responded.

“They were fine. Do you know why Mr. Stark called me?”

“I can call him back if you’d like.”

“Yea thanks.”

Peter heard the dial tone. After a few rings, he finally answered. But, it was silent on his side.

“Uhhh? Mr. Stark?” Peter said after a few seconds of silence.

“Yes?” He replied.

“What’s up?” This was weird. Something was up. He got the strangest feeling that Mr. Stark was in danger.

“Spider-Man, I need your help in Stark Tower!”

Peter hesitated. “Uhhh I mean now? I’m in Massachusetts…”

“Right...” He seemed to ponder this. “It’s urgent. Something bad happened.”

“What? Are you ok? Is May ok?”

“It’s May. She… Got hurt.”

Peter cursed under his breath. How could he get all the way to New York? “What happened? Is she gonna be ok?”

“We don’t know yet. You better get here.”

“I’m on my way,” Peter hung up without another word. He didn’t care about anything other than May. He didn’t care that all of Tony’s responses were short and undescriptive. He also didn’t care to notice that Tony called him Spider-Man instead of kid or Pete. All he cared about was getting to May. He lept from the roof and crawled back through the window. He tore off the suit and got dressed. He woke up Harley and together they sped down the highway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the longest drive of Peter’s life. The whole time he was just thinking of gruesome scenarios of May in danger. Harley kept shooting him worried looks. He kept telling Peter to ‘calm down’ and ‘we’ll be there soon’. But, Peter had the horrible feeling they wouldn’t get there soon enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harley hadn’t even stopped the car when Peter unbuckled himself and jumped from the car. He dashed for the elevator and pushed the button about 100 times. It wasn’t going fast enough. He gave up on the elevator right as Harley jumped in. The doors shut on him leaving Peter to take the stairs. 

Peter shot a web up through the center of the stairwell. It stuck to the ceiling of the top floor and it pulled him up. He jumped off after a few moments of rising and ran through the doors into the medbay. It was empty. 

“FRIDAY! Where’s Mr. Stark?” Peter shouted.

“He’s waiting for you in the garage.” She answered. 

Peter swore and ran back to the stairs. He jumped through the center and caught himself last second with a well-aimed web. He bolted back into the garage. And there Mr. Stark stood. He seemed a bit more stiff than usual. But, Peter just assumed he was stressed about May. His spider-sense flared up a bit as he approached. But, he was probably just full of adrenalin.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter called. “Where’s May?”

“She’s not here. I don’t even know who she is.”

“Wha-” Tony sent a powerful punch right to Peter’s face. And he hit spot on. Peter shouldn’t have ignored his spider-sense. He was blown backward and slammed into one of Tony’s many black Audi’s. He got up and raised his hands in surrender. “I know this isn’t Tony. Who are you?”

“The question is, who are you Spider-Man?” Not-Tony’s hands began to glow blue. Peter quickly shot a web at the wall and pulled himself out of the way just in time. He ran up and tried to land a kick to the man’s back. But, he easily stepped out of the way. He grabbed Peter’s ankle with his glowing fist and threw him into the concrete wall. Peter’s vision went dark for a moment. He blinked hard and stood. He still couldn’t see. He raised his fists defensively. He regained his vision just in time to see a blue light racing for his face. He must’ve blacked out. Because when he opened his eyes, he was laying on his back in the trunk of a car. The top was open and there was Not-Mr. Stark looking through Peter’s wallet. Did he just get mugged by a billionaire? 

“Peter Parker…” The man said with a grin. “You’ll do.”

Peter tried to move. But, he felt weak. He felt weird. Fuzzy. But, things only got weirder. Mr. Stark’s face melted into some kind of zombie’s face. It then somehow reconstructed itself to look like Peter. The man shrunk an inch or so and smiled with Peter’s smile. At that point, Peter assumed he was dreaming. This was some shit he’d never seen. He kinda wished he hadn’t seen it, to begin with. Not-Peter slammed the trunk closed and it sped off. The darkness and the soft bumping lolled Peter back to unconsciousness. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Tony!” Harley yelled. The whole tower seemed abandoned. “FRIDAY? Where’s Tony?”

“I’m sorry, he doesn’t seem to be on the premises… He seems to have just disappeared.”

Harley didn’t know what that meant. He just stood confused. He decided to look for Peter instead. He ran down the stairs and back to the garage. Peter was standing against the car.

“Apparently May and Tony aren’t here…” Harley said. “Wanna stop by May’s apartment?” 

“Yea,” Peter replied. His voice was deeper than usual. Harley assumed it was just stress. The whole drive he was bouncing his leg and breathing like just ran a marathon. He decided this wasn’t the weirdest about the situation. 

They both climbed into the car and off they sped to May’s.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Was this person Peter’s brother? What was their relationship? Maybe a best friend? He had to find out soon or he’d blow his cover. 

Not-Peter decided to keep quiet during the ride to May’s house. He also wasn’t sure who May was in relation to Peter either. But, he knew she was important.

They parked on the street and the boy (Not-Peter assumed they were brothers) jumped out and into the building. Not-Peter followed him up the stairs and into the apartment. The boy had a key. Definitely brother then. They burst in through the door into the dark apartment. The boy ran to a door on the far side and knocked. A very disgruntled looking woman opened it. (She must’ve been Peter’s mother).

“Harley?” She said. She must’ve been sleeping. It was almost 5 AM. The woman looked around confused. Her eyes landed on Not-Peter and she smiled.

“Hey, what are you doing back? Did something happen?”

“Uhhh… We thought something happened to you…” Apparently, his name was Harley.

“What?”

“Yea Tony called us and said you were hurt. But… I mean, you look fine.”

“Yea I haven’t seen Tony in weeks.”

Harley looked at Not-Peter with concern. “I think he’s in trouble. I mean why else would he say May was hurt and then not be at the tower? It must’ve been some coded message to bring us back to the city!” 

Not-Peter began to sweat. Harley was getting too close to the truth. He had to find a way to slow him down.

“Is my suit in the car?” Not- Peter asked. If he could get in the suit he could disappear and never come back. It was a good escape route. He had to abandon ship before Harley got too close to the truth. Not-Peter never thought that Harley may not know Peter Parker’s Secret Identity.

“You brought a suit?” Harley asked. May looked shocked.

“You told him?” 

“Told me what?” 

“So he didn’t tell you?”

“Told me WHAT?”

Not-Peter got tired of their bickering very quickly. He began to look around the apartment for Peter’s room. He assumed there would be an extra Spider-Man suit there for him to escape in. He easily found Peter’s messy bedroom and began searching. It wasn’t hard, however. All he had to do was open the closet and there sat a folded Spider-Man suit. He snatched it up and pulled it on. It took him a moment to realize how to make it tighten around his body. But all he had to do was press on the symbol on his chest. He grabbed the mask and slid the window open. He had one foot out when the door slammed open. Not-Peter whipped his head around. Harley was standing in the doorway wide-eyed.

“Holy fuck!” He shouted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter peeled his eyes open. Even though his whole body screamed for him to go back to sleep. He was met with a dark room. He was sitting on something wet and cold. He shifted uncomfortably. His whole body was sore. Especially his arms. He tried to stretch them out but, they were above his head. His whole body sunk when he realized they were shackled to the wall. He strained against them but, he was still fuzzy from some kind of drug.

He looked around the room until his eyes fell upon a figure. He was also sitting on the concrete floor with his arms above his head. Peter felt a pit in his stomach when he realized it was Mr. Stark. He let his head fall against the wall with a thud. This was going to suck. A lot.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter whispered. “You awake?”

“Yea…” He groaned. He must’ve just woken up too.

“You ok?” Peter asked. He knew it was a dumb question. But, it was the best he could do.

“Yea I’m awesome.” 

Peter nodded. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped abruptly when he heard a voice. It was a woman. She was on the phone with a man. 

“Kid-” Peter shooshed him. He was trying to listen. But, it was hard she was a bit too far away. He focused until the voices disappeared. Peter swore under his breath when he heard approaching footsteps. He looked at Tony and told him to be quiet.

And then, a woman appeared. She stood in the doorway slightly shadowed. It was difficult to make out her face. But he could tell she didn’t have any hair. If she did, It must’ve been really short. Like buzz cut short.

“Hello Peter Parker,” She said. Her voice was smooth and calm. “I assume you’ve met Stark. He’s been here for a while. I just can’t get him to give me what I need. I was hoping you’d help me.”

“Tough luck lady. I can’t help you.”

“It’s not you that I need. I just need some information. And our friend Stark is here to help you give it up,” That didn’t sound good.

“Go to hell,” Peter said. He sounded much braver than he felt. Mr. Stark gave him a warning look. 

The woman just laughed. She stepped out from the doorway and into the light. Peter was confused at her appearance. Her face was completely smooth. No eyes or nose or anything. Just a smooth oval. And she was completely bald. She pulled out a gun and cocked it. “This will be fun.”

Peter leaned further into the wall at the sight of the gun. It was shocking. He was thinking there would be more in between interrogation and death. But, maybe this lady worked differently.

“I have six rounds. One has a bullet. Five do not. I’m going to shoot Stark in the face every time you don’t answer correctly. Are we clear?” She explained. Her voice really didn’t convey a threat to Tony’s life. It sounded more like she was explaining why you can’t have ice cream for dinner to a toddler.

Peter stiffened though. He was speechless for a moment. But, it didn’t take him long to regain his voice. “What do you want?”

“I want to know who gave you your powers. I know you weren’t born with them. So, How’d you get them?”

Peter thought for a moment. He had no idea what to say. If this crazy lady figured out how to recreate Spider-Man’s powers she could make an army of them. 

“I don’t know,” Peter chose to say.

Apparently that was the wrong answer because the woman pulled the trigger. The gun clicked and no bullet came out. Both men were shocked. 

“That’s one,” The woman said.

“I wasn’t lying! I don’t know.”

The gun clicked and reset again.

“That’s two.”

Peter hesitated. He really wasn’t lying. He had no idea what to say.

The gun went off again.

“That’s three! Halfway done. You’re taking too long! Might wanna hurry it up over there.”

“It was an accident… I didn’t get them on purpose. I was just in the right place at the right time…”

The gun went off again.

“There’s a 50/50 chance Stark is going to die in the next thirty seconds if you don’t tell me WHERE you got your powers!”

“Oscorp…” Peter said. “I was on a field trip to Oscorp and a spider bit me!”

The gun went off again. This time the bullet was released. Peter saw in slow motion the bullet hit Mr. Stark in the shoulder. Peter screamed. He needed to help him. To get him to the med bay. He strained against the metal until his wrists bled. 

Mr. Stark groaned and shut his eyes tight. “You’re a terrible shot lady,” He said through gritted teeth. 

The lady swore and swung the butt of the gun at Mr. Stark. She hit him on the temple and he slouched over unconscious. 

Peter had no idea how long Mr. Stark could last. At this rate, he was going to die. And it would be Peter’s fault. He took a deep breath and chose to look anywhere but at Tony. 

“Who created the spider that bit you?”

“Oh my god! I don’t know it was an accident!”

The woman considered this for a moment. “You know,” She said approaching Peter. “My brother is with your friend. Harley Is it? And your aunt. Neither of them has any clue you’re missing. It would be easy for him to just… Break their spines.”

Peter stiffened. He was so totally screwed.

“That aunt of yours is much older than she looks. I don’t think she could live through that.” She said. 

Her face began to melt. It melted and reformed itself into May’s face. “Help me, Peter!” She yelled. “He’s going to kill me!”

“Stop it,” Peter said trying to keep himself together.

“Don’t kill me, Peter! I love you!” Fake May screamed.

“STOP!”

“PETER!”

“SHUT UP!” Peter ripped the metal encasing his hands from the wall. He was basically free. Free to kick this sick lady’s ass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re Spider-Man…” Harley said in shock. “You’re not just being a dick right? You can really climb walls and stuff? THat’s how you broke the tape! And how you didn’t die when Greg almost killed us!” Oh god... ”

“Harley, breathe,” May said rubbing his shoulders. “I had the same reaction. Just calm down.”

“I think I’m having a panic attack,” Harley said stumbling out of the room. He had to get out of there. It was all just a really weird dream. He was dreaming. He had to be dreaming. Peter Parker his roommate had been Spider-Man this whole time. But, he couldn’t fight for shit. He felt dizzy. Like he was going to pass out. He realized he hadn’t been breathing that whole time. He tried to take it a breath. But, he just couldn’t. He stumbled to the couch and fell to his knees beside it gasping for breath. That whole time he was living with SPIDER-MAN? 

“Honey, you need to calm down ok?” May said kneeling beside him.

Harley finally let air in and began shakily breathing. He buried his face in his hands. It was all way too much to handle. He took a few moments to catch his breath before turning back to Not-Peter.

“Were you ever gonna tell me?” 

Not-Peter hesitated. “Yea…” 

Harley shook his head. He was about to say something when he heard a voice come from Peter’s bedroom. Everybody looked sound.

“The kid is free! Kill them!” It said followed by static.

“What?” Harley said in shock.

Not-Peter looked back at him with a very Unpeter face. Almost sinister. It left a bad taste in Harley’s mouth. Suddenly, Harley had the urge to run. Run far away and take May with him. So, that’s what he did. He grabbed May by the arm and dragged her out the door and didn’t look back. He pulled her down the stairs and to his car. He fumbled with the keys a bit. But, ever since the Greg incident, he decided to keep his keys with him at all times. He unlocked the car and the two climbed in. May was still very confused. But, Harley didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out what was happening.

“Did you see his face?” May asked after a moment of driving.

“I didn’t look back,” Harley replied.

“That wasn’t Peter. I don’t know what that thing is but it isn’t Peter…”

“Then where’s the real Peter? How long have I been with Fake-Peter?”

May just shrugged. Her eyes were full of tears. Harley could tell she was thinking the worst. Harley decided to focus on driving. He needed to keep his mind distracted with something.

“We are so totally screwed,” He whispered.

After about ten minutes of driving, Harley had to pull over. The whole situation hit him like a ton of bricks. His hands were shaking again. They sat parked on the side of the road for a bit before Harley got a bad feeling. Something was wrong. But, he couldn’t tell if he was just going to have another panic attack.

His suspicions of an oncoming panic attack were proven false when Peter Parker knocked on his driver’s side window scaring the shit out of both him and May. 

Harley cautiously rolled the window just enough to hear him but, not enough for a had to get through. Just to be safe.

“Dude what’s going on? You ditched me at the tower!” Peter said.

“Are you the real Peter?” Harley asked starting the engine again.

“Am I the real Peter? Yea?” He said.

Harley wasn’t sure what to believe. He couldn’t risk May getting hurt. If this was going to be a Greg situation, he would have to get her the hell out of there like last time.

He turned to May. “I’m going out there. Peter, back away from the car,” He said.

“What?” May said. “No, stay here!”

“If anything happens don’t hesitate to get the hell out.”

“Harley Keener you stay in this car!” 

Harley ignored her. Yes, it was stupid. But, if this wasn’t Peter, he could just break the window and kill them both easily. So, he gritted his teeth and slid out of the car.

Peter approached him slowly. He smiled for a second before reaching out and punching Harley across the face. He fell the concrete and yelled for May to get the hell out of there. He tried to get to his feet. But, Not-Peter landed a solid kick to his stomach. Harley doubled over and coughed for a few moments.

Not-Peter’s hands began to glow light blue. Harley knew Spider-Man couldn’t do that. He rolled away just in time to evade a glowing fist to the face. It broke the pavement where his head was just seconds ago. He swallowed thickly at the sight of the crumbed concrete. 

He didn’t have time to get up though. Not-Peter just grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him up. Harley could see May just sitting in the car in terror. 

“Get out of here!” He shouted before Not-Peter punched him in the back. His spin cracked unnaturally. His knees buckled but, he was held up by a tight fist around his throat. He punched and kicked at Not-Peter as he was slowly lifted from the ground. He felt like his head was being ripped from his head. The pressure was suddenly released when he was thrown into a nearby parked car. He crumbled to the ground with a groan. He was awake. But, he really couldn’t move. He wasn’t a superhero. He didn’t have powers. He was just a guy. He was nothing against whatever the hell this guy was. It was going to be a more fatal version of Greg…

Not-Peter sauntered over and knelt beside him. His face began bubbling. Then, it melted. It was melting away. Then, it somehow reformed itself into Greg’s face.

Harley’s breath caught in his throat. This wasn’t real. He had to be dreaming. Every muscle in his body was screaming at him to get the hell out of there. But, he couldn’t all he could do was stare into the face of the man that almost killed him and Peter.

Not-Greg grabbed a fistful of Harley’s hair, lifted him to his knees and raised his glowing fist. Harley just sat there frozen. The glowing fist raced toward his face and hit him hard. Large chunks of his hair were ripped out of his scalp from the strain. Not- Greg winded up, again and again, until Harley couldn’t open his eyes. He just had a vague awareness of his surroundings. He was definitely about to die. But, Not-Greg froze for a moment before dropping Harley hard onto the road. He was lying across from Not-Greg. Only Not-Greg wasn’t moving anymore. His eyes were empty and unfocused. 

Harley felt hands on his shoulder but he didn’t care. He just watched as Not-Greg’s face melted and reformed into a smooth surface. No facial features at all. Just a smooth face. It made Harley want to puke.

The hands on his shoulder pulled him up to his knees. When he raised his head, he saw May kneeling across from him. She pulled him into a tight hug. He could feel his shirt getting wet where her face was. His mind was working a bit slow so it took him a while to realize she was crying. 

She pulled out of the hug and Harley swayed. She caught him by the shoulders and held him up. 

“Don’t ever ask me to stay in the car again you hear me?” She demanded. But, her voice and expression were soft.

Harley nodded. That was a mistake though. His vision instantly started spinning. May backed away just before he leaned over and puked. She rubbed his back until he was finished. 

May helped him climb into the car and off they drove. Harley had no clue where they were going and kept passing out. When the car finally stopped, they were in some random parking lot. 

“Wus happenin’?” He slurred.

“I made a deal with Peter that if he was ever in trouble we would meet here after the Justin Hammer thing…”

Harley didn’t reply he would’ve nodded but, he didn’t want to puke in his own car. 

They sat in the parking lot for what felt like forever. May was using pieces of her pyjamas to cover Harley's cuts and gashes. He really should’ve gotten a first aid kit for the car. Him getting his ass kicked was happening more than he thought was possible. Trouble just seemed to follow him. Or no… actually, trouble always followed Peter. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter used the cuffs as a weapon against the woman. He elected to ignore the fact that her face was still May’s. And her voice. She was still yelling May’s voice. God, it was horrible to think of that. He would never hurt May. But, he had to. He had to get out. He pushed off the wall with his feet and smacked the lady right in her temple with the vibranium cuffs. She fell to the ground instantly and didn’t get up. 

Peter didn’t waste any time. He ran straight to Mr. Stark and pulled his cuffs from the wall. He wondered why he also had vibranium cuffs. 

Since Peter couldn’t break through the cuffs, he would have to carry Mr. Stark with his forearms. It took a moment for him to get steady. But, once he did, he ran. He ran as far and as fast and possible the hell out of there. He knew he had to get to the parking lot. He just didn’t know where he was and how to get there. 

Turns out, he was in an old abandoned hospital. Good thing he was close enough to an exit. He hated hospitals. They always creeped him out. He ran out and realized he knew exactly where he was. He had done a mission ear there with Rhodey a few months prior. He was so lucky. He also wasn’t far from the parking lot. He could make it in maybe half an hour. 

He just kept sprinting and sprinting. He had no clue if May and Harley would be there. He hoped they were there in a car. Mr. Stark was really hurt. Peter would’ve bandaged the wound or stopped the bleeding. But, his hands were kinda tied.

He was exhausted after about 25 minutes. He was so close. His pace slowed to a light jog. He really couldn’t breathe. He had been running for so long. Five minutes felt like forever. He kept moving even so.

When he finally reached the entrance to the parking lot, there was just one car there. He prayed It was Harley’s. He took a final step before collapsing on his back. He hoped Mr. Stark hadn't been hurt in the fall. He couldn’t move to check. He was so tired.

After a moment of lying there, he gathered all the strength he had left to yell. He didn’t yell anything in particular. Just a yell. To May or whoever was in that car to help him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May had just about finished wiping the blood from Harley’s face. He didn’t feel better per se. He just wanted May to distract herself with something. 

She finally leaned back in her seat and sighed. “Do you think he’s gonna show up here?”

“I don’t know.”

“God how long has he been gone? I’m the worst mother ever…”

“You saved my life. That’s kinda awesome.”

May hummed in response. Harley knew she disagreed.

“He’ll be here. I mean he’s actually Spider-Man. He can handle himself.”

May nodded. She opened her mouth to respond but stopped when she heard something. Harley heard it too. Someone was yelling. May instantly opened her door ad ran out. Harley stumbled out behind her. He groaned and tried to run but, he almost passed out. So, instead, he looked across the lot to see what May was kneeling over. He really couldn’t tell. He had to get closer. He inched forward until he got a clear view. Peter and Tony were lying on the pavement.

Harley’s heart starting pounding faster. They looked dead. He leaned over the car for support. His knees were giving out. He was having another panic attack. He couldn’t breathe or move. He could just hear the hammering of his heart against his ribs. They were dead. He could slightly hear someone calling his name. But, he couldn’t focus on it. He fell to his knees scratching at his chest. He needed to breathe. Then there was a hand on his chest. Just like Mr. Stark would do after he had one of his nightmares. It calmed him down instantly. He somehow managed to suck in more breath. He looked up to the owner of the hand. Of course, it was May. All she had done all day was take care of him. He felt a bit bad for her.

“We need to get Tony to a hospital,” May said once she was sure Harley was ok.

“Is he ok?”

“I just need you to start the car.”

Harley nodded and climbed back into the car. He turned the keys and it roared back to life. He looked out the window and saw Peter carrying Tony across the lot with May running beside him checking out Tony’s wounds. 

Bile travelled up Harley’s throat when he saw the blood. There was so much. He stumbled out of the car and puked for the second time. While he was busy throwing up, they managed to put Tony and May in the back seat. She was fixing him up as much as possible before they could get to the hospital. Harley turned back to the car. He got a good look at Tony’s face. It was pale and chalky. Not to mention soaked in blood. 

Harley felt dizzy. His mouth was dry and he couldn’t stop himself from passing out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harley’s head smacked against something hard. He groaned and pried his eyes open. He was lying down on something bumpy. He turned his head to his left and was met with the back of May’s head. He groaned her name and she turned to look at him. She gave him a soft smile before turning back to whatever she was doing. Harley looked beside him. Peter was there. But he was staring straight ahead with laser focus. Harley turned to see what he was looking at. That’s when he realized. Peter was driving.

“Woah!” He said trying to lift his head from the leaned back seat. “Slow down! Stop! Stop the car!”

“Honey, He’s just taking us to the hospital ok? Everything’s ok!” May reassured without looking away from what she was doing.

“Peter can’t drive…” He groaned. “My car!”

“Can you shhh! I’m trying to focus!” Peter said leaning closer to the wheel. Harley also noticed that Peter’s wrists were cuffed together. So not only was he driving… But he was handcuffed too. 

“Oh god…” Harley said shutting his eyes tight. They were all gonna die.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They miraculously didn’t die! They made it all the way to the tower and got all patched up thanks to Cho. Well, Harley at least… Tony was still asleep. He wasn’t bleeding all over Harley’s car anymore though. 

Harley spent the first night in his own room. Thankfully he didn’t need any surgery. Just some stitches and a LOT of pain meds. Tony wasn’t so lucky. He was in surgery for five hours and intensive care for two days. Harley wasn’t allowed to see him for the first two days. But, once they got him stable, Harley spent about every second at his bedside. He felt slightly guilty for not realizing he wasn’t with real Peter. So, he tried to do anything to make up for it.

On the third night, Peter visited. He had been staying in the apartment with May until she felt safe in the house. 

“Hey man,” Peter said when he opened the door. He slipped in and sat across the room. Harley assumed he thought it would awkward between them. What with the fact that some chameleon dude pretended to be him for a day. 

“What’s something only you would know?” Harley asked.

“What?” 

“When was the first time we actually became friends? Not tolerating each other. The first time I considered you my friend.”

“Uhh, I think it was when you said you were going back to Tennesse and I said I’d go with you. And then you drove me home to prove I couldn’t be in a car with you. But then it turns out we’re like… The same person,” Peter said with a small smile.

“You passed Parker.”

Peter nodded. “Is he doing ok?”

“Yea he’s just gonna be asleep for a while.”

Peter nodded again. “So what happened? What did the chameleon do as me?”

“Well…” Harley hesitated. It was difficult to think back on. “He went to May’s house with me ad then he hanged into a Spider-Man suit he found in your closet and tried to jump out the window. Then he tried to kill us. That’s kinda the gist of it.”

“Shit…” Peter muttered. “Harley I was gonna tell you but, I just couldn’t find the right time.”

“It’s fine man. I’m over it. Just glad everyone is ok really.”

“How’d you react?”

“I kinda freaked out. But, I was ok. Until the near-death experience that is.” Harley regretted it the second he said it. Peter didn’t seem to take offence by it.

“So you can really climb walls and do flips and stuff?” Harley said after the most loaded pause he’d ever lived through.

Peter’s face lit up. He jumped out of his chair and walked to a clear area of the room. He backflipped up the ceiling and opened his arms. 

“Welcome to the Spider-Man show!” He said grinning wider than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based this chapter on issue 8 of Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 2. I really liked it so I thought why not use the Chameleons? You should 100% go read those comics they are my favourites. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> New chapters coming soon!!!!!


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